


Dreamwalking

by Solovei



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Breakfast, Dreamsharing, Gen, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 21:38:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2888789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solovei/pseuds/Solovei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lalli tries to help Emil with something, and it sort of works.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreamwalking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hushpiper (presh)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=hushpiper+%28presh%29).



A few weeks had passed before Emil realized Lalli was walking into his dreams.

Since they left Mora his dreams had mostly involved either trolls or food and on occasion both, or being back at university. But lately there had been something else. Every night, a strange shadow he didn't recognize would appear. It showed up in all manner of places - his parents' house while he was helping to dig up books, a lecture hall where Emil was debating economic policy with a goat, at the end of the Dalahasten train where he was doing laundry.

It did not scare him, though. For the most part, Emil just was bothered by the fact that he could not figure out what the shadow was. He didn't like not knowing things. Usually when he didn't know things he pretended to know them anyway to save face. But he couldn't lie to himself like that; he was inherently in on it, so it would never work.

The night he found out what the shadow was, Emil was exhausted. They had combed almost an entire city block, then had to walk back to where they had parked the vehicle with a heavy box of salvaged goods. He was only vaguely aware of the others' comings and goings after he had fallen into his bunk and dozed off.

The forest was a surprise; he could not remember the last time he had dreamt of a forest, at least one that wasn't on fire. It was kind of nice, like a fresh clean sheet of paper, full of possibilities. Emil started walking through the forest following the sound of water until he came to a clearing. There, right on the grass, sat a table laid with all of his favorite foods, as if it were Midsummer and he was the only guest. His eyes got wide, he could almost taste it, the new potatoes and the herring and the sweet, tart strawberries...

And then the shadow appeared. This time, though, he could see its features, could see silvery hair and piercing eyes, a silhouette like the spokes of a wheel. Emil smiled and sat down at the table beside his friend.

The next morning at breakfast, he sat between Tuuri and Lalli, wearing a look that suggested he knew a secret nobody else did, a self-satisfied sort of grin he was trying hard to hide. The Finnish skald seemed to notice this and looked at him in confusion. "Did something happen? You seem really happy." They were sitting on the floor in a rough circle beside the heater while Sigrun and Mikkel attempted to make the radio work.  
Emil licked at his spoon to get the last of the porridge off of it.  
"So, I've seen your cousin do some pretty cool mage stuff since we started, but you never told me could do THAT."  
"Do what?"  
Lalli had been half-dozing, still holding his bowl as he teetered back and forth between Emil's shoulder and Tuuri's.  
"You know, go into other people's dreams and stuff".  
Tuuri gasped before frowning and giving her cousin a slap on the shoulder. "Lalli! I told you not to do that anymore, it's very rude!" The scout looked offended and said something back in Finnish. The girl's expression softened, and a blush crept into her cheeks as she turned back to face Emil.

"He, um... Lalli said that he wanted to give you a nice dream... since... he thought you looked sad lately..."


End file.
